Bloghardt's Reflector

Friday night at St. Mark, we had a lock-in.  It seems like we always are having a lock-in.   All we need is an excuse!  It's a three day weekend, time for a lock-in!  Visitor from out of town, it's time for a lock-in!  College kids come home, lock-in!  Seniors graduate, lock-in!  We are about to go to a Higher Things conference, let's lock-in!

 One day, I honestly expect my youth group president to come up to me and say, "its Friday, Pastor, it's time for a lock-in."

As a pastor, I love lock-ins.  If the kids want to gather around the Lord's gifts at Church, I'm not gonna stop them!  You see, lock-ins are more than just a time to gather kids for a "sleep over."  Lock-ins are a time to gather around our Lord's gifts!

 Pastor Zill often says, "Pizza is great, but it's not the Gospel."  That's true.  Lock-ins are great, but they aren't the Gospel too.  But, they can be filled with the Gospel!   So, at St. Mark, our lock-ins are filled with worship, our Lord's words, and then fun.

 Worship:  How could we possibly spend all night at the church and NOT hear our Lord's words and promises and then sing? Our Lord gathers us around His gifts for Vespers and Compline.  We'd do Matins too, but we seem to all be asleep at 5 AM.  Here's the bulletin from Friday night's lock-in.

 Confession and Absolution:  After Vespers, Confession and Absolution is offered.  When I first offered this at St. Mark, I thought for sure that no one would come.  Boy, was I wrong!   Uber-Lutheran teenagers have sins that trouble them and they dump them where the Lord has given them to be dumped - in Confession and Absolution.

 Bible Study:  Faith desires always more.  I thought that my kids were being worn out by Vespers and Compline. Again, I had to repent.  This last lock-in, THEY ASKED FOR A BIBLE STUDY!  Why not?  We were at church for twelve hours, how could we not spend some time studying our Lord's words?

 Fun and Food:   Pizza, movies, midnight football, hide and go seek in the church, you name it, and they do it.  Well, better, they name it and they do it.  It's their fun time, not mine. 

 When our Lord gives us to worship, we worship.  When He puts His words in our ears, we study.  When He gives us time to play, boy do we play.

I am watching The Godfather Release Date: 11 May, 2004

I am designing a lock-in presently and am trying to settle on activities. Can you share any of your emailable schedules, etc or resources that you used to plan your activities? Thanks